5. Who have been the presidents during war, and who have been the presidents during peace?

6. Who have been the most "successful" presidents?

7. How can historians' opinions about presidents change over time?

Activities:

1. Assign at least one president to each student, or group of students, so that every president is accounted for. Have the students use the K-12 TLC Guide to the American Presidency to research their president(s), and to be prepared to provide information about their president(s), such as:

Name

Height

Place of birth

Dates of birth and death

Place of death

Which college did they graduate from?

Public offices held other than president

Date first inaugurated

Date they left office

Wars fought during their presidency

Major issues addressed during their presidency

Wife's name

Wife's dates of birth and death

Wife's places of birth and death

Children and their names

Instead of asking for the same information or a report from each student, make it a game by asking questions that will cause the students to analyze their information. Such as:

Whose president was the tallest?

Whose president was the shortest?

Whose president was the first to be born?

Whose president was the most recent to have been born?

Whose president was the youngest age when inaugurated?

Whose president was the oldest when inaugurated?

Whose president served a full two terms or longer?

Whose president served exactly one term?

Whose president served for the longest time?

Whose president served for the shortest time?

Which presidents also served in the U.S. Congress?

Which presidents served during a time of war? Which war?

Which presidents were older than their wives, and which were younger?

Which president had the most children?

In which state have the most presidents been born?

In which states have no presidents yet been born?

From which university have the most presidents graduated?

Which presidents were not college graduates?

Which presidents died in office?

Which president lived the longest after completing the term of office?

2. Create a class spreadsheet or database by having students enter in the information about the president(s) they researched, then provide each student with copies of the spreadsheet/database. Have the students rank order the presidents using the information, such as:

Height

Length of presidency

Age they became president

Date of birth

3. Examine the major issues of each presidency, and look for trends. Which issues tend to be a major concern for the most presidents, which issues seem to come and go, and which issues were specific only to a single president?

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This guide last edited 10/30/2012This guide last revised 06/14/2007This guide created 02/10/2004